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| Story: A New Life - Chapter 20 Thursday, 11-May-2000 23:05:10
Well, Sarah and Andrew's budding(?) romance gets put on hold for a bit as events get out of control for a while. More hard choices are made (and are forthcoming), and once again Sarah has to rethink her entire position. Thanks everyone for reading and commenting! She had really been looking forward to this dinner. Even though it had been a bit of a last-minute affair, Sarah Carter realized in that second that there was no better time than now to talk to both her friend (and unknowing lover) Andrew Peters, and her adopted (in a way) sister Dana Carter. There were things that she very much felt like they needed to know. Though it seemed as if Dana already knew some of this information, Sarah’s fellow Post journalist was still completely in the dark. And if she wanted to have a long and meaningful relationship with him, there were parts of her life that he had a right to know about. So they had all climbed into her little Corolla and had left for one of Denver’s best steakhouses, which lied almost 20 miles away. Things had been going very well when Sarah’s car began its journey over one of Denver’s many overpasses. The three had been throwing a lot of small talk around, almost as if they were all waiting for someone to say something important or insightful. Sarah had begun to pull around one of the metropolis’ many buses when it all fell apart. The sports car right in front of Sarah’s Toyota suddenly shifted lanes to the right, pulling directly in front of the bus. While rude, this ordinarily would have been okay - - had it not been for the pickup that was coming over from the far right lane. The two vehicles met each other, door-to-door; the truck’s greater weight spun the Firebird back into the lane that Sarah was occupying. Instead of hitting the brakes, the young journalist turned the steering wheel over to the right a bit, coming somewhat closer to the ad-adorned city bus. That bit of maneuvering offered just enough room for her to miss hitting the Firebird, which came to a violent rest against the bridge’s thick concrete barrier. Unfortunately, the pickup truck didn’t move back into it’s lane of origin, as the sports car had. It kept on course, sliding right into the middle lane - - and was struck full-force by the large bus. The impact sent the GMC truck into a severe counter-clockwise spin, and it flew back off to the right, narrowly missing the cars speeding forward there. The truck came to a similar resting position as the Firebird had. But the bus’ momentum and sheer size – plus the driver’s panic – was a recipe for disaster. “Sarah – look out! The bus – !!”, Dana began to warn. But it was too late. Sarah’s quick glance to the right rewarded her with the ominous, looming shape of the bus’ side meeting the passenger’s side of her Corolla. The impact jarred all three of them. Sarah tried to pull away from the bus, but she found that she had no directional control over her car. Inertia was playing a major role in their predicament. When the bus had stuck the truck, the impact had sent the large passenger vehicle careening towards the left-hand concrete barrier. Its mass and weight caught Sarah’s car up into its headlong flight. Sarah watched as the light-gray mass of concrete rapidly growing larger and larger. In a matter of seconds, if nothing changed, her car would be caught between the barrier and the out-of-control bus, and would be undoubtedly crushed. She felt her heart rate jump up incredibly quickly, and warmth flooding her system, heralding the start of the transformation to her Gammonian self. ‘No - - not right now - !’ Sarah, for the first time since discovering her incredible abilities, began to fight against what was happening to her. The change itself was laced with just enough pain (and intimate alterations to herself) that it proved to be more than a mere distraction when it occurred. And now was not the time to be distracted. She had to figure out a way to disengage her car from the bus before the seemingly inevitable meeting between the large passenger vehicle and the solid, unmoving wall of light-gray concrete crushed them. There was also another factor to consider: the secrecy of her alter ego. Although Dana seemed to have, somehow, found out about her dual identity, Andrew was still in the dark - - and this was not the way that Sarah wanted to reveal her secret to her fellow journalist. So she resisted the transformation, while trying to come up with a way to save their lives. They were only a few feet away from the barrier now, and were rapidly running out of both room and time. Sarah glanced in the Corolla’s rear-view mirror, searching for some idea to help them out. “Damn….”, she muttered under her breath. She had seen that the blue-gray color of her eyes was gone; a rich green color had replaced it, and she could sense that the rest of her body wasn’t far behind. There was too much to do at once. She needed to both fight against her change AND drive the car AND try to keep them all alive. Sarah felt the small amount of control she had built up quickly slipping away; and, seemingly in response to that realization, the white leather of her flat dress shoes seemed to constrict around her feet. She knew then that she was out of time. Then, almost as if by an act of providence, the bus driver temporarily gained a bit of control over his vehicle. The three friends in Sarah’s Toyota all looked on in immediate joy and relief as their distance to the concrete barrier began to increase as the driver wheeled his bus away from the bridge’s shoulder. Sarah was only half-aware of this, though, as she had her own inner battle to fight. The strain of the past 20 seconds had triggered her alteration from human to Gammonian, and it seemed as if nothing she did could reverse it. She could slowly, so very slowly, feel her body growing, her skeletal structure very gradually expanding and thickening to support the much more dense and powerful muscles she was also gaining. But to her inner relief, her transformation was not yet outwardly visible – only her green eyes and some tightness to her clothing gave away what she was undergoing. But that wouldn’t last for much longer. Sarah needed to get away from her friends and allow the change to finish. She then could change back and – hopefully – Dana and Andrew would be none-the-wiser of what had happened. She shifted her slightly larger foot over the Corolla’s break pedal and pressed down. With a quick-but-harsh metallic shriek, it parted from the bus’ side, slowing down faster than the larger vehicle. Sarah slowed the car to a stop and looked out of the corner of her eye to see her friends’ reactions. Before she could make an excuse to leave the car, she heard several loud explosions come from directly ahead. To her horror, it appeared that several of the bus’ wheels had blown, and it was again out-of-control. It teetered to the left, and then violently turned back to the left in a spin. It struck the barrier just past the concrete section - - and continued moving forward towards the precipice that led to the lanes of another highway below. Unfortunately, the bus had been almost off the bridge when it lost control again, and the thick concrete barrier had given way to a thinner, weaker metal guide rail. That rail easily parted as the bus tore through it; the vehicles front wheels left the surface of the road as it continued forward. But luck seemed to play another part in this episode. The bus had lost enough velocity during its wild and dangerous trip that it came to an unstable halt half-a-second later. Sarah didn’t hesitate. There were people in that bus that needed help – not to mention the lives that would be threatened if it actually fell from its rickety position and into the lanes below. She quickly opened the door, almost ripping the door’s latch right from its place. ‘Strength’s kicking in….’, she thought. Although she continued to struggle against her body’s conversion from human to Gammonian, Sarah knew that she wouldn’t be able to hide it from Dana and Andrew much longer. She had to get away and help those people. “I’m going – out there and - - see if I can give – those people some help.”, she got out, repressing the grunts that her vocal chords wanted to release as they lengthened. “uhhh…. S – See if you can – give some help to those – unnnhh - - people back there.” She quickly slid out of her Toyota and began running towards the threatened city bus, feeling her longer legs pumping out more power than they would ordinarily be capable of. Her off-white slacks had tightened up considerably around those legs; their bottom cuffs had risen a couple of inches from their normal positions, and continued to rise as she hurried towards the bus. Her two passengers watched her go. “What does she hope to accomplish?”, Dana asked, more than a hint of incredulity present in her voice. “Does she expect to rescue all those passengers by herself? Doesn’t she know that she’s putting herself in danger, too?” Andrew opened up his door to get out. “Ms. Carter, I think she knows what she’s getting into. We just have to trust her judgment. Let’s go; there may be people back there that need help.” He exited the car and began jogging back to the numerous accident scenes that the bus’ joyride had left. He heard Dana’s door open and close behind him, and also hear the clapping of her high-heeled shoes striking the pavement as she followed him. ‘I hope that I sounded more confident than I feel.’, Andrew thought to himself. ‘Sarah’s my friend – a very good friend, too – and I don’t want anything to happen to her. But she’s right: someone needs to go and give these other people some help. The police and fire department are undoubtedly on their way. They’ll be able to help Sarah out.’ Those were good thoughts, and he sorely wanted to believe them, too. Her body was just starting to gain its rich green hue by the time Sarah Carter reached the beleaguered bus. Fortunately for the sake of her secret identity, none of the passengers had been looking at her. They were all too busy screaming, shouting, and, in general, panicking. Not that the journalist blamed them in the least; the bus had slipped forward another foot, shifting its center of balance further to the front, increasing the likelihood of it toppling down altogether. She stopped near the spot of the slippage and knelt down, planting her bulging, warping white shoes as firmly on the ground as she could. She then reached out with her growing green hands and cupped them beneath the bus’ edge. Satisfied that she was in as good a position for her plan as possible, Sarah stopped her mental fight and let the change complete its work. The affects were nearly instantaneous. Her form’s growth, kept partially in check by the sheer strength of Sarah’s will, was let loose as soon as she ceased her inner struggle. The warping white leather of her shoes suddenly began splitting everywhere, allowing her swelling feet to free themselves. Her toes, becoming longer as well as thicker, burst forth from the dress shoes’ leather fronts, and her larger heels split the shoes’ rear. Her slacks became almost skin-tight within a few seconds, and then the weakening seams gave way to her enlarging legs. The cuffs ripped apart around the bottoms of her emerald calves, further splitting the seams. More and more of her shapely, muscular legs were revealed as the off-white material of the slacks parted in rough, jagged tears. The belt around her waist was quickly digging into Sarah’s waist, and she grunted. As soon as she did so, the small strip of black leather slipped out from the belt’s small brass buckle, allowing the journalist’s expanding waist and hips more room to grow. Sarah’s beige blouse was showing her upper body’s rapidly building physique in detail. As she watched, feeling tendrils of pain flowing up and down her form, the sleeves started tearing open around her forearms as their green flesh became too long and thick for them to contain. As they did so, another series of splits began opening up further up her growing arms; the long and curved forms of her un-flexed biceps were also forcing their way out. Yet another series started around her shoulders as their round shapes also enlarged and widened with her chest. A few thick, curly locks of hair fell in front of Sarah’s green eyes; they had darkened almost to the point of blackness, and a deep shade of green was running through her previously dark-blonde hair. Sarah shifted her feet a little, and felt the last bits of leather slide off them, her still growing bare toes gaining a better purchase on the rough pavement. ‘It’s – happening faster – than usual - - ‘, Sarah thought. Her efforts at containing the transformation must have created a build up of some sort within her, and it was now being released. Her clothing then began to tear apart in earnest as the expansion of Sarah’s body into her natural form almost effortlessly split and tore through the various fabrics and materials. The buttons of Sarah’s blouse popped off, her swelling breasts forcing the beige cotton blend apart to allow them more freedom. The shiny, ebony-hued fabric of her heroine outfit was now showing, as always handling her growth. The rear of her blouse also ripped open in a large split down her back, displaying more of the black material. The remaining bits of the blouse’s sleeves floated from her long, powerful feminine arms. Although her belt had already been compromised, her waist and hips were becoming increasingly uncomfortable again. Their expansion caused the rips now traveling up her thickening, sexy green thighs to widen further and accelerate their progress. They traveled up the seams of her off-white slacks and reached its stretched out waistband. This relieved some of the pressure on her hips, and Sarah’s groans of unpleasantness turned back into quiet grunts, and then into just heavy breathing as her body’s change ceased. Sarah reached up with one hand and tore off the remains of her ruined blouse; as soon as she had done that, she repeated the action with what was left of her slacks, leaving both small piles of tattered cloth on the ground beside her (it wouldn't do for her friends to recognize her by her clothing's remains). Her shimmering black outfit fit her feminine curves extremely close, not hiding any of her strong physique. ‘Okay, now that that’s over with, it’s time to get to work.’ Carefully shifting her hands beneath the bus again, Sarah began to stand up. The large vehicle began to rise with her, shifting its weight onto the wheels that were whole. She stopped before she reached her full height, not wanting to tip it any further than she had to. Her ears picked up a sudden change in the cacophony of noises from within the bus; the passengers’ shouts of panic shifted into ones of surprise. She began to gently walk to the right, making sure that one foot was securely planted before moving the other. The bus’ weight was of no concern to her; it wasn’t at all heavy, and came nowhere near her strength’s limit. But she had to be very careful so as not to tip the bus over onto its side, or to cause any sudden movements that would plunge it – and her – down to meet the busy highway below. One step at a time, Sarah moved the bus away from the precipice, watching as the front wheels regained solid ground. She kept it up, making sure that the bus was nowhere near the bridge’s edge, before she gently set it back down. She could hear cheering within, and saw the forms of many faces in the darkly tinted windows above her. She offered the passengers a smile and waved at them. She saw numerous hands suddenly stick out from the tops of the windows, waving back at her. She walked around the back of the bus to see police and fire units approaching the scene. Satisfied that this particular situation was under control, Sarah turned around and began walking back to her car. She reached it just as Dana and Andrew were returning from their own mission. She saw Andrew’s face light up with unexpected joy, tinged with a little concern. “Jane! I should have known you’d show up! Is everyone on that bus safe?” Sarah nodded, and Andrew let out a sigh of relief. “That’s incredible. Hey, did you see Sarah over there? She was on her way to help when we went back to see if anyone in these other accidents needed help.” Sarah looked at Dana, who was, in turn, looking back at her. “Yes, Andrew. I met up with her as soon as I arrived. She’s still back there, helping out the passengers.” She turned to look back at Dana. “Are you his friend?” Dana nodded. “Yeah; I’m also Sarah’s sister - - well, sort of. So she’s okay? She didn’t get hurt? God, that was rash of her, but it looked like everything went all right. I am glad that she’s helping out – I just wish that she would asked us to come with her.” She narrowed her eyes a little. “So you’re the ‘superwoman’ that has been in the papers, huh? ‘Jane’? That’s your name? Well, I guess it works.” ‘Could she really not know?’, Sarah asked herself. It seemed that, despite their conversation earlier that day, Dana didn’t know about her secret. Or was she just putting on a show in front of Andrew? The journalist couldn’t tell, so she decided to continue with her original train of thought. “She’s just fine. What about you two? Are you both okay?” The two friends nodded. “Since you’re here, Jane, can I talk to you for a second?” Sarah found that she was caught in a dilemma. Although she wanted to tell Andrew her secret – and that she loved him – she didn’t want to do it here and now. This was not the proper venue for that type of disclosure. She shook her head, the long curly locks of her dark-green hair swishing around her shoulders and back. “I’m sorry, Andrew, but I can’t right now. There’s more work to do. I’ll call you tomorrow evening, though, okay?” And with that, Sarah turned on her bare heels and began running away from her friends. This was very, very difficult to do – she felt as if she were abandoning them to some degree. But, on the other hand, there was still some thinking that she needed to do - - - and she needed to be alone. Dana and Andrew watched the large green woman as her powerful legs carried her away from the scene. “So, she’s off to save someone else now?”, Dana quipped. Andrew gave her a look. “I don’t know, but I know that she has done a lot of good for this city.” ‘And for me…..’ This was going to make it all the harder for him to tell Sarah about his relationship with Jane. But he knew that it needed to be done. He didn’t want to hurt his friend’s feelings, but keeping this from Sarah any longer than necessary would hurt her even worse. But he would wait until after his talk with Jane tomorrow to decide anything concrete. “Let’s go find Sarah.”, he said, gesturing with his head towards the bus, now swarming with police and firefighters. To be continued Terry |
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